{"id":5462,"date":"2010-10-07T18:02:45","date_gmt":"2010-10-08T01:02:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.candlelightstories.com\/2010\/10\/07\/short-story-the-ripper-on-the-bowery\/"},"modified":"2010-10-07T19:29:29","modified_gmt":"2010-10-08T02:29:29","slug":"short-story-the-ripper-on-the-bowery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/candlelightstories.com\/Blog\/2010\/10\/07\/short-story-the-ripper-on-the-bowery\/","title":{"rendered":"Short Story: The Ripper On the Bowery"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Steven G. Farrell
\n<\/strong>celtic-badgerontheborder.com<\/a><\/p>\n

An homage to the Bowery Boys movies of the 1930s!\u00a0 This is a wild, humorous and slightly chilling yarn that takes us through the alleys of New York’s Bowery as a group of young hooligans known as the Bowery Irish Clowns tries to stop a killer who seems a lot like a certain Jack the Ripper.<\/p>\n

\n

Adult Reading – Mature Content<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Ripper on the Bowery<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cI got to get on safe ground before the Ripper hits the streets,\u201d Shem fretted out loud as he made a dash for it as soon as the doors of the elevated train opened.<\/p>\n

Clarence Darrow Shaw, aka \u2018Shem,\u2019 member of the Bowery\u2019s Irish Clown social \u00a0club and an infamous loafer of the Lower East Side of Manhattan, disembarked the 3rd<\/sup> Avenue Elevated Train at Canal Street.\u00a0 He had spent another fruitless day seeking an executive position on Wall Street; now it was time to get back to his real occupation: goofing off with the other Bowery\u2019s Irish Clowns.\u00a0 The job-hunting fa\u00e7ade was just a scam to keep his old man at bay in the Shaw family\u2019s tenement apartment. \u00a0He would do anything to keep his parents from yelling at him. It usually worked. \u00a0After coughing-up the fare to and from the city Shem had just enough of the money he had bummed off his Ma for a coffee and piece of pie at \u201cHughie\u2019s Bohemian Caf\u00e9,\u201d the official hang-out for Bugs and the other Clowns.\u00a0 Hughie Kressin the ancient Yiddish-spewing innkeeper of the Bohemian Caf\u00e9, was an easy touch in spite of all of his ranting at the Irish corner boys who cluttered his place. Shem knew he wouldn\u2019t feel secure until he was with the gang.\u00a0 The Ripper wouldn\u2019t dare step into the holy grounds of the caf\u00e9.\u00a0 Hughie was particular about the quality of the people who stepped into his establishment.<\/p>\n

\u201cGee, Bugs will understand why I can\u2019t get my career off of the ground,\u201d Shem said out loud as he descended the stairways of the station.\u00a0 His moronically bug-eyed looks and mumblings always drew stares. He just knew his folks would start harping on him about going back to his old gig at the Fulton Fish Market. \u201cThey\u2019re both nothing but Irish harpies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shem drew a bead on Hughie\u2019s just down the block but his vision was blocked when his Dodgers baseball cap fell over his eyes upon his collision with Squirt Sheridan, the tough newsboy who worked the corner and who was a sworn enemy of the Bowery Irish Clowns. Squirt was known for carrying a switchblade knife.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cWatch it, punk,\u201d growled Clancy. \u201cI hope the Ripper cuts your throat before Christmas unless I slice it before Thanksgiving.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cExcuse me for breathing, young fellow,\u201d shot back Shem.\u00a0 \u201cNever mind Christmas; let me live past Halloween.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGet a job, wastrel!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLay a finger on me and I\u2019ll tell the chief,\u201d retorted Shem, adding, \u201cknife fighter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Squirt knew he could have mopped up the sidewalk with Shem or any of the other losers in the gang but he didn\u2019t fancy tangling with Bugs McMaster who was still accounted as one of the best East Side sluggers since the days of Monk Eastman, Razor Reilly and Eat Em Up McManus.\u00a0 Shem Shaw the best insurance policy in the entire rapidly decaying neighborhood.\u00a0 Sheridan thought to himself that soon the Bowery would have nobody left in it but winos, bums and the Irish Clowns.<\/p>\n

Shem scurried past Kennedy the beat cop.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you still running with the Tinkers from the County Kerry?\u201d hooted the flat foot.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, go back to the Ninth Precinct,\u201d shot back Shem.<\/p>\n

Standing just outside of Hughie\u2019s Bohemian Caf\u00e9 was Sarah Shaw, a second cousin of Shem and a third rate hooker on the Bowery.\u00a0 She had once been a very charming and pretty slip of a lass but now she was beginning to look a bit shopworn.\u00a0 Most of the family as well as the old families on the Bowery were ashamed of Sarah\u2019s carrying on.\u00a0 Shem remembered better times and felt pity for a good girl who had gone to the bad.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t like she was getting rich at it or enjoyed the life.<\/p>\n

\u201cSarah, you better move on before Hughie blows his top or Bugs comes along,\u201d said Shem, peering into the diner to see who was around.\u00a0 Hughie was making a banana spilt for two fat dames while Bennie, Gyp, Murphy, Jordan were taking up valuable space at a table in the far back of the shop in between the rarely used jukebox and the too often used restroom.\u00a0 Whitey was probably just closing up the holster shop he operated along with his tough old gaffer Creepy Kelly.\u00a0 The Ferro brothers were still down at their office at the newspaper where they were making a name for themselves as a reporter and photographer with the inside scoop and glossy and gross photographs on the two serial killings that had taken \u00a0place in the old burg. \u00a0And the chief, Bugs, was probably finishing up his supper at home where his Ma always put on a good feed since she inherited loot from her bachelor brothers who were all\u00a0\u00a0 firemen, police detectives and undertakers before they kicked their buckets. \u00a0Shem was wondering why the Ripper had cut the throat of two lowly \u00a0street walkers in the Bowery instead of hunting \u00a0up in the Bronx or down in Brooklyn.\u00a0 One would think the Ripper would find fresher and prettier girls somewhere on Coney Island.\u00a0 Shem could almost imagine the smell of the popcorn, the taste of a hot dog, and the sounds of people screaming on the Ferris Wheel. Too bad it was October and the fair days were over.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you let me hold your spare change, Cousin Clarence, I could go home for the night and I would escape Bugs\u2019 wrath for another night.\u00a0 You\u2019re still wrestling mackerel at the Fulton Street Fish Market, aren\u2019t you?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody by the name of Shaw has the Fulton Street Fish Market on the brain.\u00a0 Besides, I\u2019m flat broke and have been out of work since I lit-up my box of firecrackers beneath Mr. Silverstein\u2019s chair during his afternoon nap.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat wasn\u2019t smart thing to do to your boss, Clarence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the fourth of July, Cathy,\u201d snapped Shem.\u00a0 \u201cWhere\u2019s your sense of patriotism, lady?\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah suddenly froze in position.\u00a0 Her ears perked up as she tried to hear something over the noises of night time New York City.\u00a0 She peered long and carefully across the street.\u00a0 She studied the spaces in between the pawnshop, the Chinese restaurant and Battleship Marge\u2019s Boardinghouse.\u00a0 Her gaze stayed the longest on the alleyway further down the street and away from the elevated station. Her silence and stiffness scared Shem who was easily frightened.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody is watching us right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStop it right now, Cathy!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you suppose it\u2019s him?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope you don\u2019t mean who I think you mean,\u201d responded Shem, biting on his fingernails.<\/p>\n

\u201cI bet it\u2019s the Ripper, Shem, out to get us both.\u201d \u201cWe going to be number three and four.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish the chief was here,\u201d whined Shem, starting to cry like a half-wit.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoo!\u2019 shouted Cathy, grabbing him by the neck.<\/p>\n

Shem\u2019s terrified scream brought Kennedy huffing and puffing down the street and Hughie bolting towards the front door of his dive.\u00a0 By the time the two adults could rescue the boy Sarah was laughing and skipping across the street. Soon she ducked out of sight into the alley that had once held so much fear for her.\u00a0 The copper socked Shem on the arm for issuing a false alarm and Hughie was going to bar him from the Bohemian Caf\u00e9 for the night until Shem pulled out a handful of loose coins to prove he was a paying customer for a change. Momma Mary, Hughie\u2019s hefty spouse, glared on at the moocher.<\/p>\n

\u201cHughie, go prepare me a nice bowl of chicken soup and a cup of hot tea while I wait out here for Bugs to show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll chicken soup you,\u201d snorted Hughie, cracking Shem with his cleaning towel. \u201cMillions of Jews sipping chicken soup in this city and I get the Irish kid who likes mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou mean he likes my chicken soup, Poppa,\u201d countered Momma.<\/p>\n

\u201cBless your heart, Momma Mary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shem Shaw was alone for only a few minutes when he heard a blood curdling scream issue from the alley across the street. \u00a0He immediately recognized Cathy\u2019s voice.\u00a0 He raced across the street to the entrance but he didn\u2019t venture any further because he assumed that this was probably more of his cousin\u2019s larks.\u00a0 He was peering into the gloom of the dusk when Bugs came up to him and cracked him on the top of the head with his battered hat that was yet another inheritance from a deceased uncle.<\/p>\n

\u201cShem, are you watching Alice\u2019s rabbit disappear down the magic hole again?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard Sarah screaming down there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bugs frowned at the mentioning of the name of an old flame of his.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only screaming that one does is when she\u2019s on her back and earning pennies off of the waterfront riff raff who patronize her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cChief, that isn\u2019t nice to say about a girl down on her luck.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s down on something,\u201d said the chief, shaking his head sadly as he tugged Shem over to the caf\u00e9.\u00a0 It was time to check-up on the troops.\u00a0 The two had just made their way back to the table that now served as their clubhouse since their numbers had decreased over the years and the younger Mets had chased them away from the old underground clubhouse.\u00a0 The greetings and insults were still in progress when Whitey Kelly strolled in looking pensive as ever. He was forever whipping his hands because he felt he could never get them clean after working in his old man\u2019s all day. The clowns started in on the newcomer when their taunts refocused upon the Ferro brothers, Mario and Bosco, who rushed in from the street.\u00a0 Mario, the reporter, flapped his notebook in the boys faces while Bosco, the photographer, called out for a pose.<\/p>\n

\u2018If it isn\u2019t our very own print boys and the Bowery\u2019s number one newshound and his brother the snapper,\u201d shouted Bugs, making no sense to anybody but himself.\u00a0 Mario ignored the uproar as he ordered a cherry cola from a Hughie who was wondering if the soda was to be paid for in currency or placed on the boys\u2019 ever expanding tab.<\/p>\n

In between gulps Marion clued the others in on the latest scoop about the Ripper.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe coppers are anticipating two attacks tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs if one wasn\u2019t enough,\u201d put in Shem.\u00a0 \u201cAnd now I\u2019m worried about Sarah.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGo on, Mario, you interest me for a change of climate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems that Scotland Yard of London contacted the Bowery\u2019s very own Chief Inspector Rat Rice when they got wind of two Ripper murders here on the Lower East Side of New York City.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would the Scottish in anyone\u2019s yard be interested in the Bowery?\u201d asked Shem<\/p>\n

\u201cShem, you\u2019re an idiot,\u201d snapped Bugs, smacking Shem with his hat again before turning his attention back to Ferro. \u201cMario, what\u2019s ole Rice doing about all of these Rippers murders?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cScotland Yard, the London police, sent over here to our fair city one Inspector Tommy Farrow to assist Rice and the lads at the Ninth with the Ripper spree because they think our Bowery madman is copying their man in every detail.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat, the Scottish have their own Ripper?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor once Shem has asked an intelligent question,\u201d said Jordan.<\/p>\n

Hughie set a fresh cherry coke down in front of Mario as he proceeded to blow his stack. \u201cHaven\u2019t you hooligans ever heard of Jack the Ripper?\u00a0 He was the original Ripper.\u00a0 The neighborhood\u2019s nut case in this neighborhood is a copycat. Jack the Ripper was in all of the newspaper back when I was a fresh off of the boat from Prague in 1908 or so.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTry 1888 on for size,\u201d corrected Mario as Hughie fumed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs this Prague in the Queens?\u201d asked Shem.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid this Jack the Ripper lurk in the immense London fog and kill girls with a knife?\u201d asked Bugs.<\/p>\n

Light bulbs went on all over the caf\u00e9 as everybody began to put two and two together.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy old man told me all about Jack the Ripper,\u201d rumbled Whitey.\u00a0 \u201cYou know the old guy lived in White Chapel, London around that time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought you were Irish?\u201d asked Hughie.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re all Irish or Italian and not a good Jew among you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHush, Poppa, scolded as she brewed more coffee.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of Irish lived in London back in those days,\u201d grouched back Whitey, \u201cso what about it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSurely, Mario, Rat Rice doesn\u2019t think it\u2019s the same Ripper after all of these years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe heel isn\u2019t saying, but I\u2019m saying so in my next article entitled The Ripper on the Bowery. Sounds catchy, doesn\u2019t it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could say it\u2019s ripping.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyways,\u201d continued Mario.\u00a0 \u201c\u201dI was at headquarters today when the Chief Inspector introduced the limey bobby from England and the first thing the foreigner said was that in 1888\u00a0 on September 30th<\/sup> the Ripper struck twice, in two different spots, and put the end to two girls.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t say,\u201d said Bugs, rubbing his jaw. \u00a0\u201cThe first attack was in late August and the second one was in early September so I guess the Ripper would be ready to strike again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mario consulted his notebook and confirmed Bugs observation. \u201cAugust 31st<\/sup> and September 8th<\/sup> which were the exact dates that Jack the Ripper done his dirty deeds in London.\u00a0 If he goes ahead according to schedule September 30th<\/sup> is circled on the calendar.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis way it doesn\u2019t require any guesswork on the part of chief Inspector Rice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cChief, Squirt Sheridan is pretty handy when it comes to sticking people with a knife,\u201d blurted out Shem.<\/p>\n

\u201cShem has a point there, Bugs,\u201d said Jordan as some the other nodded their heads.<\/p>\n

Bugs took a long pause before he finally responded by saying, \u201cSquirt Sheridan has earned himself some serious consideration as a suspect but he\u2019s more of a galoot than a night stalker.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd here\u2019s the kickers, boys,\u201d announced Mario, waving everybody closer in for a whisper of a cover-up as he drew the attention back to himself.\u00a0 \u201cThe two girls our Ripper killed were named Mary Ann and Annie just like\u2026.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cJack the Ripper!\u201d the gang sang in harmony.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it stands to rationalization that the police know the name of his two promising victims tonight,\u201d said Bugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cSmart boy,\u201d said Hughie, clapping Bugs on the shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if the police know that all they have to do is put guards on all of the girls in the Bowery by those names.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cElizabeth and Catherine,\u201d said Mario, answering Bugs\u2019 unspoken question.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Bowery must have dozens and dozens of girls with the first names of Catherine and Elizabeth,\u201d said Hughie.\u00a0 \u201cWhere do the police even start?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCathy\u2019s real name is Catherine,\u201d Shem said to Hughie.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t bother your Poppa Hughie right now, Shem.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCathy!\u201d roared Bugs, leaping to his feet and racing to the door. \u201cCathy was in the alley.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Bugs was too slow on the draw and Cathy\u2019s bloody remains had already been found \u00a0by Kennedy.\u00a0 By the time the Irish Clowns reached the far end of the alley a crowd had gathered. Shem, against his will, was pulled forward to identify the body of his deceased cousin.\u00a0 The crowd was<\/p>\n

angry and they began\u00a0 demanding that Kennedy take action immediately.\u00a0 The man in blue immediately blew his whistle for more assistance.<\/p>\n

Bugs, Shem and the Clowns were all shaking their heads with disbelief as Kennedy began to force the rest of the onlookers to clear the way for re-enforcement.\u00a0 Nobody seemed to pay much attention when Bosco began to snap a picture.\u00a0 The exploding light bulb made everybody jump back.<\/p>\n

\u201cSay, what\u2019s the idea?\u201d asked Kennedy, pushing his hat backwards on his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s show more respect for my cousin, young fellow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEvidence,\u201d answered Bosco, popping in another bulb into his camera.<\/p>\n

\u201cA scoop, you mean,\u201d said Bugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to burn some images to warn the public that a madman is at large,\u201d Mario said in a rhetorical manner.<\/p>\n

Bugs would have had more cross words for the newspaper brothers but the alley was soon full of all sorts of city employees.\u00a0 Sirens filled the autumn night air as uniforms crowded into the dark alleyway. Kennedy elbowed a few of the boys aside to usher in Chief Inspector Rat Rice.\u00a0 A roly poly fellow with a Charlie Chaplin mustache followed close behind him.\u00a0 The two bent over the dead girl\u2019s body and examined the mess that had once been her throat and stomach.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bloke\u2019s gone and made a mess,\u201d said the chubby man in a thick Cockney accent as he pointed out the gore splattered all over the brick sides of building and all around the alley.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re all standing in the blood and guts of this poor and unfortunate soul.\u201d<\/p>\n

The foreigner\u2019s last sentence did the job of clearing out the alley that Kennedy hadn\u2019t been able to accomplish.\u00a0\u00a0 The last thing Bugs and the Bowery Irish Clowns heard was Rice shouting out orders in his \u00a0\u00a0that bossy tone of voice of his. Nobody was in a mood for a banana spilt when the gangs retook their<\/p>\n

well-worn chairs inside of the Bohemian Caf\u00e9. Bugs looked around to see that several of the key members of his crew were missing in action.<\/p>\n

\u201cHughie, you can fade as I take a head count,\u201d said Bugs.\u00a0 \u201cGo listen to the radio and have Momma Mary rustle up some grub.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn your tab I suppose.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYellow bellies,\u201d laughed Jordan. \u201cThey took off running at the site of blood.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot everybody gets a thrill by the sight of the ketchup like you, Jordan,\u201d snorted Bugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cShem had to rush home to tell his family about\u2026.you know,\u201d said Gyp.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhitey said he had to check on his old man, Creepy Kelly,\u201d said Bennie.\u00a0 \u201cYou know that Creepy can get up to no good if somebody doesn\u2019t keep a close eye on him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bugs rested his chin on his fists and began to ponder the situation.\u00a0 The Ripper was intruding on his territory even if his turf was confined to a few grubby blocks in the lowly Bowery.\u00a0 What\u2019s more the Ripper was now attacking people who the Irish Clowns knew.<\/p>\n

\u201cSay, fellows, didn\u2019t Mario say the Ripper was suppose to attack two girls tonight?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about it?\u201d asked Bennie.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was suppose to kill a Catherine\u2026.and he did; now he\u2019s suppose to kill an Elizabeth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMore police have arrived,\u201d noted Jordan. \u00a0\u201cRice has called in the reserves.\u201d<\/p>\n

The boys paused as more sirens could be heard in the distance. The tiny diner seemed to be engulfed in the loud screams of squad cars and fire trucks.\u00a0 The noise was deafening.\u00a0 Bugs started to holler above the racket.\u00a0 \u201cIt is up to us to start patrolling the Bowery to see if we can catch the Ripper.\u00a0 We won\u2019t have any females left if we leave it in the hands of Inspector Rice, Kennedy and the mustache from Scotland Yard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBugs!\u201d shouted Hughie, bursting out of the back room and racing over to grab Bugs by the arm.\u00a0 \u201cThe Ripper has struck again! I just heard a news flash over the radio!\u00a0 The Ripper struck again!\u201d<\/p>\n

Benny and Jordan caught a hold of Hughie and forced him to take a seat.\u00a0 Gyp tossed a glass of lukewarm water into the little man\u2019s face in order to settle him down and to get some sense out of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHughie, if you decompose yourself long enough to speak plain English to us we\u2019re all ears.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ripper struck again just down Canal Street here only a minute away.\u00a0 It occurred near the East River.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hughie\u2019s words rang true as the Bowery was alive with excitement, panic and rage that night.\u00a0 The police and civilians alike padded their way from one site to the other.\u00a0 The Irish Clowns had just arrived at the second murder site when Inspector Rice looked at them and said, \u201cJust the boys we wanted to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy us?\u201d asked Jordan.<\/p>\n

Kennedy pointed to a chalked graffiti that stood out against the backdrop of blood dripping off of the back of a tattoo parlor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Clowns are the men that will not be blamed for nothing,\u201d Bugs read out loud.<\/p>\n

\u201cShakespeare it\u2019s not,\u201d cracked Jordan.\u00a0 Nobody laughed at his remark.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the message is a positive identification,\u201d Rice announced grandly.\u00a0 \u201cBoys you\u2019re all under arrest.\u201d<\/p>\n

The arrest of the Bowery\u2019s Irish Clown must have been some sort of ruse by Inspector Rat Rice in order to prove that he and his department were on top of the Ripper Case; for they were almost immediately released. A telephone call to Hughie at the Bohemian Cafe provided them with an airtight alibi.\u00a0 Bugs wondered if Rat had them arrested merely as some sort of twisted joke. Whatever Rat Rice\u2019s motivations Bugs was worried that a lynch mob would be awaiting their return back to their headquarters at Third and Canal. \u00a0However, their long-time mascot Hughie must have quelled the mob, because all was quiet when the boys marched in to reclaim their table at the back.<\/p>\n

\u201cInspector Rice was just grandstanding for the reporters,\u201d exclaimed Hughie, dishing up free ice cream to smooth over any hard feelings the gang might have for the Inspector.\u00a0 He had done it more than once or twice over the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd for that we\u2019re going to show up Rat Rice by putting our mitts on this so-called Ripper of the Bowery and pulling down his ironed trousers in full view of the radio and newspaper public,\u201d said Bugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Irish Clowns to the rescue!\u201d said Jordan, rallying the others to the cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Irish Clowns should get paying jobs instead of butting their noses into police business. If the Ripper doesn\u2019t cut them off, Rat Rice will break them off,\u201d fretted Hughie.<\/p>\n

However, once Bugs McMaster had made-up his mind nothing in Heaven or on Earth could dissuade him from the task at hand.\u00a0 The whole affair was had turned personal.\u00a0 Besides, the malt shop kingpin reckoned that he and his crew knew the nooks and crannies better than all of the cops in Manhattan put together.\u00a0 It stood to reason that as neighborhood loafers that they could sneak into every shadow of the Bowery.\u00a0 Bugs came up with the division of labor, sending Jordan and Bennie northwards towards to the outer edges of the Bowery at Fourteenth Street while Gyp, Murphy and Whitey covered the waterfront along the East River.\u00a0 Mario and Bosco were the most useful at their place of employment where they could get tabs on Chief Inspector Rice and Inspector Farrow as well as filter to the gang about any new bulletins about the Ripper.\u00a0 Bugs and Shem would handle the business district beneath the elevated tracks, going from shop to shop to ask question. Bugs decided it as was only a mere formality to stop at the Kelly\u2019s Upholstery Shop to question Creepy Kelly, Whitey\u2019s forever cranky and threatening father.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want White Chapel\u2019s hooligan mates under me roof!\u201d shouted Creepy, waving some sort of \u00a0sharp work instrument beneath Bugs\u2019 nose.\u00a0 The old gaffer\u2019s accent was hard to place; for it was not an Irish brogue or a Cockney dialect but rather a broth of two stirred together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho\u2019s this White Chapel when he\u2019s at home?\u201d asked Shem, ditching behind Bugs\u2019 back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the old gent is referring to our mutual pal Whitey,\u201d explained Bugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good a name as any other and sure wasn\u2019t the lad born over in White Chapel where I had me shop back in London?\u2019 challenged Creepy.\u00a0 He suddenly shrunk away from the boys as though he had let the cat out of the bag.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo Whitey is English and not Bowery Irish?\u201d asked Bugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s none of your business, you corner boy, you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bugs didn\u2019t reveal his hand to the other boys when they regrouped at Hughie\u2019s Bohemian Caf\u00e9 just before dusk.\u00a0 He spent much of the time studying Whitey\u2019s face and body language as the others recounted their long day of detective work.\u00a0 Bugs had long since realized that the old Jack the Ripper murders had occurred in the crumbling White Chapel section of London\u2019s East End before they had suddenly rematerialized in the crumbling Bowery section of New York\u2019s East Side. The boss of the Irish Clowns knew he didn\u2019t need to be any Sherlock Holmes to deduce that Jack the Ripper was Creepy Kelly, Whitey\u2019s father.\u00a0 Bugs McMaster was nothing if he wasn\u2019t loyal to his fellow gang members and he wasn\u2019t about to help Inspector Rat Rice and Precinct 9 to do their job in locating the murderer.\u00a0 Stopping the Ripper from striking again on the Bowery was altogether a different ball game. Some of the fellows had spied upon Squirt Sheridan at his corner newsstand but it had just been racing forms and girlie magazines all day long.<\/p>\n

\u201cFellows, the best thing we can do is just sit tight until the November Third when this Ripper character is poised to strike again,\u201d announced Bugs, finalizing his decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cShouldn\u2019t we warn the neighborhood that the Ripper could strike again on the Third of next month?\u2019 asked Jordan.<\/p>\n

The public telephone began to ring and it refused to stop until Hughie picked it up.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan we trust the Ripper to keep to the old schedule?\u201d\u00a0 Gyp asked sensibly.<\/p>\n

Hughie shouted over the boys: \u201cBugs, it\u2019s Mario, and it said the last victim of Jack the Ripper was a dame by the name of Mary Kelly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhitey, isn\u2019t Kelly your last name?\u201d Shem asked innocently.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what about it, mug,\u201d growled Whitey, clenching his fists.\u00a0 \u201cThere are plenty of people with the last name of Kelly in the Bowery.\u00a0 Besides, we don\u2019t own a Mary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shem turned away from the wrath of Whitey to address: \u201cAnd Hugo, Momma\u2019s first name is Mary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hughie rubbed his chin in reflection.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re forgetting that Momma Mary isn\u2019t a night walker\u2026if you catch my drift.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMore like a nightmare,\u201d Hughie mumbled under his breath but still thankful that his wife was in the kitchen flipping hamburgers for the boys.\u00a0 She had always been known for her fiery temper back in the old country. She was also one jealous old nag.\u00a0 Maybe Momma was Jill the Ripper.\u00a0 Nah, she couldn\u2019t be. Well, one could never tell.<\/p>\n

The Bowery\u2019s Irish Clowns spent the entire month of October going from door to door to warn people about the upcoming event of the Ripper\u2019s November appearance.\u00a0\u00a0 Anybody named Mary was strongly cautioned to stay behind locked doors on in during the opening days of the eleventh month.\u00a0 Catching wind of the Irish Clowns civic deeds, Rat Rice decided to get into the act by hammering up flyers all over the joint re-stating the same advice.\u00a0 The Chief Inspector promised the public that he would beef-up the number of beat cops in the area and went on to promise that on the 3rd<\/sup> he would be pounding the pavement along with Inspector Tommy Farrow, the Jack the Ripper expert sent over by Scotland Yard.\u00a0 The implication was that Farrow had something up his sleeve. The Mayor of New York City had even posted a $10,000 reward for the ripper.\u00a0 As the neighborhood proceeded to set up its defenses, Bugs McMaster was doing some snooping around on his own.\u00a0 He thought it was best to keep his own counsel about his discoveries. The only one he felt comfortable in confiding with was Mario Ferro, who had access to the real inside dope from all sorts of sources.<\/p>\n

On November 2nd<\/sup> Bugs McMasters was seated inside of Hughie\u2019s Bohemian Caf\u00e9 waiting for his tribe to gather for their war paint and instructions when Hughie ushered him over to the public telephone where Mario was waiting at the other end of the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny information about Creepy Kelly?\u201d asked Bugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope you\u2019re all ears, Bugs; for there was a Jack the Ripper suspect by name of James Kelly, a convicted maniac.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t say?\u00a0 Creepy could be James.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne James Kelly was sentenced to a life in a lunatic house by the name of Broadmoor for the murder of his wife shortly before the Ripper\u2019s murdering spree.\u00a0 He escaped by using some tricks that would have made John Dillinger proud of him. He also went underground for years until he showed up one day at the main gate of Broadmoor requesting readmission.\u00a0 The British fuzz began a search for him back in 1888 but they wrote him off when they figured out he had fled to the United States; and by 1923, the year he resurfaced, they no longer considered him a prime suspect.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt adds up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s even more, Bugs,\u201d interrupted Mario, adding, \u201caccording to inspector Farrow of Scotland Yard\u00a0 there was always a long standing theory among British crime experts that Jack Ripper had brought his hobby over here.\u00a0 A few prostitutes were found sliced and diced here on the Bowery years before we born. He was never captured and it was believed by the authorities that he took off when the police began to close in on him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt must have been before Inspector Rat Rice\u2019s time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cScotland Yard and the London Metropolitan Police have long theorized that the Ripper then continued his murdering all over the country; these attacks being spread-out over many decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIsn\u2019t Creepy Kelly a bit past all of that now?\u201d asked Bugs, thinking of Whitey.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe he has an able-bodied assistant,\u201d whispered Mario, thinking of Whitey.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat else is on your mind, Mario?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to the files James Kelly died in 1927.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Creepy Kelly is indeed James Kelly maybe he pulled a second Harry Houdini escape act.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time Bugs got off the party line the gang was starting to gather.\u00a0 Hughie and Momma were in the kitchen getting hot coffee, soup and sandwiches ready for the boys.\u00a0 Hughie had promised to keep the Bohemian Caf\u00e9 open all night long so the boys would have a headquarters and a place to warm-up. The Irish Clowns planning session pulled to a grinding halt when Squirt Sheridan strutted in and put in an order for hot pastrami on rye and coffee to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cPut it on my bill, Momma Mary,\u201d grunted Sheridan, seeming the worst for drink.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will but this is the last time.\u00a0 You\u2019re up to seventeen dollars and twelve cents and that\u2019s getting too high up there for Poppa and me,\u201d she said.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t want to quarrel with a mean drunk.<\/p>\n

Squirt Sheridan glared at the gang but held his tongue as he disappeared into the gathering mist of the late autumn night.\u00a0 He left behind the fumes of cheap whiskey.<\/p>\n

\u201cSquirt Sheridan has become a rummy,\u201d proclaimed Jordan, waving away the sour air.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe must be burning the candle at both ends,\u201d noted Shem.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s keep an eye on the flames of those candles,\u201d said Bugs.<\/p>\n

The Irish foggy dew had thickened into an old-fashion London pea soup fog as the midnight hour approached and past.\u00a0 Shem was happy to be close to Bugs but he would have been happier to be closer to his bed at home.\u00a0 The weatherman on the radio had forecast that the drizzle would intensify in the wee hours of the morning and that that the rain would eventually turn to sleet before it became solid snow.\u00a0 The sidewalks of the Bowery appeared to be uncommonly cluttered with all sorts of people considering the Ripper was about to strike again.\u00a0 Shem wondered how many of them were police officer and how many were onlookers hoping for a bloody show.\u00a0 Then, again, any person passing by could be Jack the Ripper on the prowl.\u00a0 He thought of his dead cousin and hoped that he and Bugs would save the day.\u00a0 He dearly would love to get in a clout or two for Cathy\u2019s sake.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo my eyes deceive me?\u2019 asked Bugs, pointing at a figure that loomed a few blocks ahead of them.<\/p>\n

The two young men picked up their paces to close the gap between them and the hunched over figure that loomed in front of them.\u00a0 It appeared to be an elderly man.\u00a0 It was also quite obvious he was wearing some sort of top hat that had been out of fashion since the \u201cGay Nineties\u201d.\u00a0 In his right had the man held a walking stick that he nervously clicked on the cement sidewalk as if he were propelling himself forward; in his left he was carrying a black leather bag.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs he going to the opera?\u201d asked Shem.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe looks like a doctor making a house call back in the olden days.\u201d<\/p>\n

The words were no sooner out of the chief\u2019s mouth when the man suddenly whirled around his tracked, lifted up his cane, and charged the two boys at full speed.\u00a0 Creepy Kelly was only inches away from crashing in some skulls when suddenly men leapt out of the shadows and wrestled the man down to the ground.\u00a0 It was Rice, Farrow and a squadron of plains clothes officers.<\/p>\n

\u201cChief Inspector Rice!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you\u2019re still meddling in police business, McMasters,\u201d said Rice, turning away to instruct his men to cuff the struggling menace to society. \u201cWe\u2019ve been tailing you all night and we knew you would serve as useful bait to lure Jack the Ripper out into the streets.\u00a0 After all, isn\u2019t your name Marion?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMarion!\u201d hooted Shem.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my maiden name,\u201d said Bugs, stumbling over his words.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were hoping Marion was close enough to the name of Mary.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy premise was correct,\u201d Inspector Farrow crowed like a rooster.<\/p>\n

The chief was in no mood to thank the police for rescuing them.\u00a0 Instead, he was interested in the black bag that had fallen to the ground during the shuffle.\u00a0 All eyes were turned on Bugs as he snapped open the latch and turned the bag upside down. A sandwich and a thermostat of coffee tumbled to the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cSmells like pastrami,\u201d noted Shem.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s me late night snack, you Yankee ruffians,\u201d shouted Creepy.\u00a0 \u201cAnd why am I in cuffs when I was defending myself against these footpads who intended to rob me of my meal?\u201d<\/p>\n

Rat Rice didn\u2019t have the time to sort out the mess because Gyp came running down the street and roaring his head off that somebody had snuck up behind him and pulled his cap over his eyes and had slammed him up against a wall.\u00a0 In between gulps, Gyp explained that by the time he was able to see again, Whitey and the attacker had vanished into the night. He speculated that Whitey was giving chase to the Ripper at that very moment.\u00a0 Gyp was barely finished with his narrative when Murphy tore around the corner shouting bloody murder.<\/p>\n

\u201cBugs, somebody stuffed a trash can over my head and by the time I had gotten the tin off of my noggin the attacker was gone and Jordan had disappeared into thin air.\u201d<\/p>\n

Events were tumbling in from all points and things were going to get even more obtuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cBugs!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sounds like Hughie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon the chubby little caf\u00e9 owner had discovered the small gathering.<\/p>\n

\u201cJordan is hurt and I just saw Whitey racing towards the East River.\u00a0 The Ripper attacked Jordan and he\u2019s dying on the footsteps of my caf\u00e9 and Whitey is in hot pursuit of the Ripper.\u00a0 Come away quickly!\u201d<\/p>\n

In front of Hughie\u2019s Bohemian Caf\u00e9 the boys found Jordan who was up on his feet and holding a hanky to a bloody cheek.\u00a0 However, he was far from death\u2019s doorsteps. Nobody bothered to take a close look at his wound.\u00a0\u00a0 Meanwhile the police followed Whitey\u2019s footsteps in the thin covering of the fresh snow.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet Jordan inside and out of the cold!\u201d ordered Bugs.<\/p>\n

Hughie and the gang were greeted with the sight of blood and gore splattered all over the shop.\u00a0 In spite of all of the slashes across the face and the derange destruction of the body, it was still possible to identify the still warm remains of Momma Kressin.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was only gone for a few minutes,\u201d said Hughie before he fainted into Murphy\u2019s arms.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t hear a thing,\u201d announced Jordan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Whitey Kelly is the Ripper on the Bowery and not Creepy Kelly,\u201d decreed Bugs.<\/p>\n

The police did follow the footprints up to the very edge of the docks where they abruptly stopped.\u00a0 Rice and Farrow surmised that whoever had made the run had concluded by leaping into the East River. The two men were rapidly coming to the decision that it was a fake suicide.\u00a0 The word \u2018fake\u2019 was dropped from the official report a few days later when some rough and tough dock worked pulled a body out of the drink with their hooks and it was immediately identified as being the bloated remains of White Chapel \u201cWhitey\u201d Kelly.\u00a0 It would be ruled that the boy was pushed into the river from behind.\u00a0 Oddly enough, it was never recorded if there was another step of prints.\u00a0 The murder was attributed to Jack the Ripper.\u00a0 The Inspector was still supervising the investigation of the mysterious foot prints when he was hailed by Murphy and informed of the slaughter of Momma Kressin inside of the Bohemian Caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n

By the time Rice and Farrow arrived to the latest crime scene the Ferro brothers were already there snapping pictures and conducting interviews.\u00a0 The police wanted confessions, not interviews. The next few hours were filled with shouting, crying and accusations. It wasn\u2019t until a snowy dawn was breaking out from over the Atlantic seaboard that Shem asked the least dumb of all of his questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere\u2019s Creepy Kelly?\u201d<\/p>\n

In all of the excitement that old man had managed to drift away into the swirling snow without notice.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe won\u2019t get far with the bracelets on his wrists,\u201d said Rice, hoping for the best.<\/p>\n

\u201cCreepy Kelly must have killed his own son in the shuffle at the waterfront,\u201d declared Farrow, seeking approval.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you have it all wrong there, Sherlock,\u201d butted in Bugs, a smug grin smeared across his pug-nosed face.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s true that Creepy Kelly was the original Jack the Ripper but it\u2019s also true that Whitey was his apprentice and he was Ripper on the Bowery.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s true what they always say: father like son,\u201d wisecracked Jordan.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo where\u2019s Creepy?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe he jumped into the river with his son,\u201d suggested Bugs.<\/p>\n

However, the body of Creepy Kelly was never recovered from the icy river.\u00a0 Years later, a rumor was whispered along the streets of the Bowery that Farrow had wired Rice that James Kelly had reappeared at the gates of Broodmoor Lunatic Prison for a second time.\u00a0 There was also tattle that the old documents were never replaced by new ones. James Kelly had officially returned to the institution in 1923 and that he had been buried on the prison\u2019s grounds in 1927.\u00a0 The English, per usual, were trying to save rather than solve the mystery.\u00a0 It was believed by most that all of this gossip had been spread by the Ferro brothers who had gotten the tip-off from various reliable sources.<\/p>\n

Chief Inspector Rice never pointed any fingers at Creepy or Whitey and their reputations were untarnished in the newspapers. The police had found the perfect fall guy the next day when Officer Kennedy discovered a drunk and groggy Squirt Sheridan slumped inside of his battered wooden newsstand; his clothes being smeared all over with fresh blood stains.\u00a0 The thick-headed Mick became the hero of the day when he searched the hood\u2019s pockets and discovered a recently used switchblade.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been framed!\u201d screamed Sheridan as Kennedy booted him into an awaiting paddy wagon.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell it to the judge, Jack the Ripper.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bugs McMaster for once was heard coming to the defense of his old arch-enemy: \u201cfor once in his life the Squirt is telling the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCome again, chief,\u201d requested Shem.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast night we heard with our own ears squirt ordering a pastrami sandwich and coffee to go and we also found the same such items inside of Creep\u2019s black back.\u00a0 It\u2019s a bit fishy to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou mean Creepy stole squirt\u2019s stuff and framed him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody by the name of Kelly set-up Squirt for a fall.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAren\u2019t you going to tell the police, chief?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI will if I have to in order to save his neck from the noose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bugs Moran never had the opportunity to present his testimony the police and Squirt Sheridan never had a chance to sing like a canary on the witness stand. He was found a few days later swinging from the rafters of his cell. It probably saved him a trip to the hangman\u2019s gallows at Sing-Sing as Bugs McMaster\u2019s pastrami sandwich theory probably would have been ripped to shreds by the district attorney.\u00a0 Bugs didn\u2019t lose any sleep over the suicide ruling that was allowed to stand. Many residents of the Bowery thought it was good riddance to an evil man and it saved the taxpayers money on a trial and an execution.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a bloody good yarn while it lasted,\u201d Jordan was always fond of saying after the Bowery returned back to its grimy and gritty ways.\u00a0 \u201cSomebody should take it to Hollywood and make a movie out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou must be the grim reaper,\u201d Bugs once said to Jordan.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe Jordan here was the real Ripper on the Bowery and he did it just for the heck of it,\u201d blurted out Shem.<\/p>\n

Jordan responded with a sickening laugh.\u00a0 He made no denial to the charge.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe Jordan did it to provide material for a screenplay that he intends to write for a Hollywood B movie,\u201d chipped in Gyp.<\/p>\n

\u201cSay, that isn\u2019t a bad idea,\u201d Jordan said coming to his own defense. \u201cI heard California is still sunny this time of season and there are plenty of pretty girls.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd victims,\u201d said Shem.<\/p>\n

Some of the fellows laughed at Shem\u2019s remarks but they weren\u2019t laughing when January rolled around and they received a gloating postcard from Jordan out on the Pacific coast that closed with the cryptic message of \u201cthe Clowns are men that will not be blamed for nothing .\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordan made a handful of motion pictures before he eventually died of a drug overdose. Nobody could really verify if he was in a police line-up during the Black Dahlia case.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I think Momma would have loved to see Joan Crawford playing her up on the silver screen,\u201d gushed Hughie.<\/p>\n

\u201cHughie, you\u2019re just as bad as Jordan,\u201d fumed Bugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI miss Momma\u2019s chicken soup,\u201d put in Shem before tempers could flare.<\/p>\n

Poppa seemed very peaceful and happy once Momma was out of the picture.\u00a0 He had become the scandal of the neighborhood when he started dating a very young Irish colleen from Sixth Street.\u00a0 Nobody had the heart to tell Hughie that it was an established fact that his new sweetheart had been a paid sweetheart beneath the tracks of the elevated.\u00a0 More than a few suspected that the little old Yiddish-speaking man from Europe was no dummy; some even were even\u00a0 whispering\u00a0 that Hughie Kressin was really the Ripper on the Bowery who had manufactured the murders with the ultimate aim of getting rid of his pesky wife.<\/p>\n

It was right around St. Patrick\u2019s Day when the residents of the Bowery were putting up their shamrocks, cooking their corn beef and cabbage and dying their beer green when Chief Inspector Rat Rice made an unannounced visit to the Bohemian Caf\u00e9. Lukewarm greetings were exchanged before the Chief Inspector got right to the heart of the matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs far as the mayor and city hall is concerned Squirt Sheridan was the Ripper on the Bowery andhis last two victims were your pals Creepy and Whitey Kelly.\u00a0 It\u2019s too bad about the second body not being dragged up with the nets.\u00a0 Poor Creepy was probably food for the sharks and the crabs somewhere at the bottom of the Atlantic,\u201d said Rice.<\/p>\n

\u201cSounds reasonable to me,\u201d said Bugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou fellows wouldn\u2019t be holding out on me?\u201d asked the Inspector.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re no wiser than Precinct 9,\u201d responded Bugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo case closed!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo case closed,\u201d Bugs said slowly.<\/p>\n

When the Giants were just about to open up the new baseball season at the Polo Grounds against the Brooklyn Dodgers, Mario put a serious question to Bugs behind the closed doors of Hughie\u2019s back room.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you\u2019ll go to your grave believing Creepy Kelly was the Jack the Ripper of White Chapel, London and Whitey Kelly was the Ripper on the Bowery here in New York City?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m 100% positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I\u2019m 100% positive that Creepy Kelly was the Ripper both times.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I\u2019m 100% positive that I miss Momma\u2019s chicken soup but I don\u2019t miss Momma one bit,\u201d said Shem; his eyes bulging in his village idiot-like stare.<\/p>\n

The End<\/p>\n

The Ripper On the Bowery<\/em>
\nCopyright \u00a9 2010 by Steven G. Farrell, All Rights Reserved<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Steven G. Farrell celtic-badgerontheborder.com An homage to the Bowery Boys movies of the 1930s!\u00a0 This is a wild, humorous and slightly chilling yarn that takes us through the alleys of New York’s Bowery as a group of young hooligans known as the Bowery Irish Clowns tries to stop a killer who seems a lot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,639],"tags":[191,2483,1066,472],"class_list":["post-5462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","category-short-stories","tag-adult","tag-fiction","tag-mature","tag-short-story"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/candlelightstories.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/candlelightstories.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/candlelightstories.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/candlelightstories.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/candlelightstories.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5462"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/candlelightstories.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5473,"href":"https:\/\/candlelightstories.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5462\/revisions\/5473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/candlelightstories.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/candlelightstories.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/candlelightstories.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}